The Party
by Bones365
Summary: Scenes from our favotite 2 couples the night of the ministry ball. Cute and Fluffy!
1. The Dress

"Don't you _dare_ Ronald Weasley!" Hermione was glaring at him as if he had just killed her cat.

"What?" Ron asked innocently, knowing exactly what he had done wrong, or at least was _about_ to do wrong.

"You are not leaving me to schmooze with a bunch of ministry baboons while you sneak off with Harry and listen to the game on the wireless!" He winced guiltily at himself in the mirror and turned around to face her.

"Hermione, please? It's a big game! Cannons versus the Tornados! Do you know how long I've waited for this?!" He tried to be charming and smiley, but she wasn't buying it. She heaved a great sigh and stormed from the bathroom back to their bedroom.

"If you make me go to this boring ministry function by myself, you're sleeping on the couch for a week!" Her muffled response told him that she was putting her dress on and he took her distraction as an opportunity to sneak downstairs. Picking up his tie from the coffee table, he wandered into the kitchen shaking his head.

As much as he loved his job at the ministry, he didn't want to go to their annual Halloween party. He would much rather be at home, or with Harry at the Leaky Cauldron, or, hell, even at Nick's death-day party. Anywhere but there, really.

He sighed and moved to the refrigerator, knowing that there would only be finger sandwiches at the party. He took out a sandwich and was biting into it when Harry flooed into the living room.

From the look on his face and the half knotted tie around his neck, Ron could tell that Ginny was making him go to the party, too. Pushing the other half of the sandwich toward Harry, Ron grumbled through his full mouth.

"They're more trouble than they're worth, really. Always making us do things, never letting us do what we want." Harry swallowed and shook his head, a painful expression on his face.

"Maybe they'll play the game again later." He sadly took another bite and Ron scoffed.

"By then every bloke in the country'll know the score. We'll hear it from someone." He finished his sandwich and put the plate in the sink. "Damn! That was going to be a really good game!"

"Then I guess you'll just have to wait until they play each other again." Hermione's know-it-all voice made his eyes narrow and his nostrils flair. She really was obnoxious sometimes.

He turned around to tell her exactly how obnoxious she was, but the words died on his lips and his eyes bugged out of his head. She looked marvelous.

He couldn't tell what sort of material the dress was made of, but it was black and clingy and cut just low enough, with a slit up the side just high enough. Her eyes were smoky and her mouth pouty and her hair was pulled into a messy bun that he wanted to slide his fingers through and make it even messier.

He looked over and saw that Harry was staring, too. Ron smacked him loudly on the back of the head.

"You look really good, Hermione." Harry said, ducking out of Ron's reach again and turning back to his sandwich. Hermione blushed a bit.

"Well thank you, Harry." She raised her brow at Ron, who was still goggling. "Will you help me with this necklace?" She handed it to him and turned around, giving him access to her neck. Ron's eyes popped further out of his head and he made a choking sound at the back of his throat.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me? Give me a heart attack? Make me knock out every man at the party?!" Hermione looked over her shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow. The movement emphasized her graceful neck and drew more attention to her back , which was completely bare down to her last vertebrae.

The material swooped gracefully to a point just before the dimpled indentations at the small of her back.

"I don't know what your talking about." Ron looked to Harry for support, but instead found his best friend ogling his girlfriend, again. Hitting him harder, Ron raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

"That's what I'm talking about! Everyone in the room will be…looking at you!" Hermione gave a soft laugh, turning fully around to face him.

"Is that so bad, Ronald? For me to be pretty once in a while?"

"You're pretty all the time! That doesn't mean that you have to actually _show_ people that you are!" Hermione blinked.

"So you're saying that people only notice me when I dress up? When I put on a pretty dress?"

"No! I'm saying that people notice you for different reasons than your face!"

"So I don't have a good face?!" Her tone was getting shriek-y and there was a flush on her cheeks. Neither of them noticed Harry back out of the room, running from the fight before he got mixed in.

"I didn't say that! You're….You're just…secretly pretty, or something!"

Hermione shook her head sharply, furrowing her eyebrows further. "Ronald! That makes no sense! What are you saying?!" Her feet were firmly planted and her hands were glued to her hips. She was bending slightly close to him, an intimidating pose for most, but he had seen it too many times and was immune.

Ron shook his head slowly, calming himself down. "You look really beautiful tonight."

Hermione's eyes narrowed and her head tilted to one side.

"Thank you." She said slowly, "I need my necklace." She turned back around and he paused admiring her back. Stepping forward, he reached around to put the chain around her neck.

"I guess I mean that…you're kind of like this amazing hidden treasure. You don't really look like much at first, but then you open your mouth and blow people away. I've seen you curse a man into oblivion with a blind shot and a broken wrist. You're incredible and…if too many people notice…you won't really be my secret anymore. I'll have to share you."

He ran his fingers lightly down her spine and she turned around to look at him, her eyes softer. "Thank you." She said quietly. Ron nodded, suddenly shy, and turned to pick up his tie from the table.

He handed it to her silently, avoiding her eyes. She wrapped it around his neck and tied it swiftly, keeping her arms wrapped around him after she was done. He finally looked down at her.

She tilted her head and their lips met for a brief kiss. She pulled away.

"You're still not getting out of this thing for Quidditch." Ron sighed heavily.

"I know, I know." He shook his head, leading her into the living room and grabbing a handful of floo powder. "At least I get to take that dress off you later…" She hit him lightly on the arm before stepping into the fireplace, but didn't deny it. The evening began to look up for Ron.


	2. Distractions

Harry shook his head back and forth, stepping out of the fireplace. Those two would never stop bickering. He looked up at the sound of footsteps to see Ginny padding toward him. He smiled.

"I really like that dress." He said, his brow arching mischievously. She gave a whirl and his smile broadened.

"Thank You. It's new. You don't think it's too much?" her gaze connected with his and he shook his head slowly, reaching out his arms for her. She stepped into his embrace, and he pulled her against him, whispering softly in her ear.

"Not at all. In fact, I like it a bit too much…" His voice trailed off as he wrapped one of the silky strands of her red hair around his finger, marveling in its softness. Ginny sighed and put her arms around him, nuzzling his neck with her nose before resting her cheek on his shoulder.

They stood like that for a few moments, feeling each other breath. Harry began to sway as if to some music heard only by the two of them. Ginny's eyes closed and he felt her take a deep breath.

"I don't want to go to this stupid party." She sighed and pulled out of his arms, turning to walk up the stairs to their bedroom. Harry's eyes narrowed as he watched her go.

"Then why are we going? Wouldn't you rather tune into the game? We could just stay here and order a pizza, drink some butterbeer..." Again he let his voice trail off enticingly, and heard he coming back down the steps, letting out an aggravated grunt.

"Don't remind me! But mum told me that if I missed this one she'd make me be on clean-up duty for the next month's worth of family dinners." She sat down on the couch. "_Without_ magic." Harry winced in sympathy and watched her pull her shoes on, buckling the tiny buckles over her delicate ankles. He snorted.

If one really knew Ginny Weasley, they wouldn't believe for one moment that she was "delicate" in any way. Pushing herself off the couch, Ginny crossed the room to try and tackle his tie. Harry rested his hands loosely on her waist and looked down at her.

She really did look lovely tonight. Her dress was long, tight on her torso and gently flaring out low on her hips, making her look taller. Harry smiled, knowing that she wasn't tall at all, and that she had probably picked the dress for that exact reason.

"I like this color on you."

Ginny gave a frustrated snort. "Thank you, I like blue better, but I suppose an emerald works as well as any other. Oh! Where's my wand?" She muttered, pulling away from his still in tied and now severely bedraggled looking tie.

She reached over his shoulder, pulling her wand off the mantle behind him. His thumbs began to stroke her hips through her dress as she aimed the wand at his neck. His eyes widened a bit when he realized his tie was tightening very quickly.

"Um…It's a bit too tight to permit…uh…_breathing_, Gin." He smirked down at her as she cursed and re-did the spell. When he felt the pressure on his windpipe ease, Harry smirked at her.

"Does your mother know that you speak like that?" He asked her in a teasing voice. Her shoulders straightened defensively.

"You were distracting me!" She sounded indignant as she indicated his fingers, now stroking up and down her sides. Harry waggled his eyebrows comically.

"I could distract you a lot more, if you would like." He bent down to kiss her neck and she put her arms around his waist.

"Keep that up and you'll distract me from the whole ball, and then I'll make you help me with clean up." Her voice had taken on a mumble-y, dreamy quality that he just loved. He lifted his head and kissed her hard on the mouth. Her hands wound into his hair and she sighed as his mouth opened on hers. Abruptly, she pulled away.

"No!" She shook her finger at him as if he were a bad puppy. "Not now! I have to go to this thing and so do you. So no _distractions!_" She widened her eyes and looked down her nose at him, looking so much like Mrs. Weasley that he had to smile.

He lifted his hands in surrender and she nodded once, walked out of the room, and returned with her bag in one hand. She paused as she passed him to wipe a smudge of her lipstick from his lower lip. Patting his cheek, she turned and threw a bit of floo powder into the fire. She glanced back at him.

"I expect you to be there right behind me." Eyeing him through her lashed. He nodded meekly and watched her spin through the flames. He was still grinning when he, himself, stepped into the fireplace and disappeared from sight.


	3. Marche

The music swelled and the guests turned to the center of the atrium to see Kingsley and some other head Ministry officials enter the room. Ron scoffed into his champagne and shook his head. Leaning towards Harry, his lips quirked.

"You'd think that they'd get tired of the fanfare after a while." He muttered as golden streamers began falling about the entering party, making it look like they were being pelted by thin, shiny meteors.

"I heard that Kingsley doesn't have a choice. Management and Organization plans everything, and he has to go along with it." Harry replied.

"Management and Organization, eh?" Ron snorted again, "Don't tell Hermione, she'll want to switch departments."

"Don't tell me what?" Hermione's voice was suddenly very close to his elbow. He started. "Don't tell you about the Department of Organization. It's far too up your alley, we'd never get you out of the place." Hermione's eye narrowed at the mention of the department.

"Oh! Those harpies aren't for me at all. My time can be put to better use than deciding if off-white goes with gold better than cream does with metallic ochre!" Hermione shook her head angrily. "They go around like they have the most important job in the world, but all they are are glorified party planners! And not very good ones at that."

"Don't hold back, love. Tell us how you really feel." Said Ron, smiling and grabbing her a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. Harry suddenly straightened beside him and Ron looked across the room, groaning softly. He turned to Hermione.

"Do you want to go for a walk? Or maybe to the loo?" Harry jumped in.

"You could take Ginny with you!" Hermione scowled, catching sight of the man headed in their direction.

"If you two think that Ginny and I can't handle that _pig_ by ourselves, you're sorely mistaken. We are completely capable of-" They never got to learn what Ginny and Hermione were capable of, because right then, the man in question sauntered up with a smile.

"Harry! Hermione! And of course, Ron." Ron twitched a bit at the way Thomas Marche said his name: last and with a sneer. Ron only nodded in his direction, pretending to look somewhere else.

"Evening, Thomas." Harry said frostily. Thomas didn't notice the obvious tone in his voice and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good to see you, old man! Where is that delightful girl of yours? She's always good for a laugh and a long look, if you know what I mean…" Marche elbowed Harry in the ribs. Harry considered punching him back, but Marche had moved on.

"And of course! The fascinating _Ms. Granger!_" He emphasized her last name with an obvious glance at Ron. "You still haven't tied the knot with this boy! Good taste, I suppose. You look absolutely ravishing tonight, my dear. Care for a dance?"

"Actually, this _boy_ was about to dance with her, I apologize." With a tight smile at the frowning Marche, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand, and started out towards the dance floor. Whirling her gracefully under his arm, he settled her into his embrace, his hand on the small of her bare back, positioning them closer together than normal for the traditional waltz.

She scowled at him.

"I could have just said no! You didn't have to beat your chest and carry me off like that!" She tried to be menacing, but between the wine and Ron's fingers stroking her spine absently, she couldn't muster up too much of a revolt. She shivered a little as his fingers dipped a bit lower than necessary. He looked down at her with a smirk.

"Cold? You can have my jacket." He spun her out, then pulled her a step closer than she was before, now blatantly too close for the dance. Hermione scowled up at him.

"I know what you're doing! And there is no way that I'm going anywhere with you. Not until the party's over."

"But the party will be over. And what then?" He looked down at her expectantly.

"Then…" She blushed a little. "Then we go back to the flat and…" She finished her sentence in a whisper. Ron's ears turned red, but he held her closer still. It was a testament to their balance that they managed to stay upright and moving now that they were practically plastered to each other.

"Ron, we really should step apart. People are starting to stare." She tried to shuffle away, and he allowed her an inch or two before firmly holding her in place, still waltzing.

"The floor is getting crowded, don't want you to get stepped on. And if they're staring, it's because you've got no bloody clothes on." His voice got low and he growled the last bit in her ear as he dipped her low, ending their dance with a flourish.

The people around them clapped quietly, and Ron nodded to them as he pulled Hermione up. She blushed as he led her off the floor, whispering, "That wasn't necessary, Ron!" He just shook his head and kept his smile on, holding her waist firmly.

Ginny had joined Harry and Marche, and she looked mildly miserable, whereas Harry looked mutinous. His fists were clenched firmly at his sides, and his jaw was clenched, but Marche was oblivious.

"…and then I told them, 'if you can't keep up with the best wizard in the Department of Law, then, Madame, you most certainly can't keep up with me!'" Marche laughed jovially at his own joke, flashing his white teeth. "Back from the floor, I see? I do think it's my turn, can't keep dancing with her like that, Weasley, she'd lose her feet from being overly stepped on!"

Before anyone could protest, Marche grabbed Hermione's wrist, and tugged her away from Ron, who made to follow them until Harry grabbed his collar. Ron shook him off.

"I've got to get a better vantage point; I know I just saw him grab her arse." He turned and stalked angrily away, bumping past several people to get to a better place in the crowd. Ginny turned to Harry.

"You up for any distractions?" She asked, peeking through her eyelashes. Harry gulped and raised his brows.

"Here? What about your mum?" Ginny laughed and the sounded momentarily mesmerized him.

"I already saw mum a half-hour ago, and haven't seen her since. She's probably already in bed. C'mon, I know of a very large and very vacant office…" Ginny toyed with his tie and started backing slowly away, a cajoling tone to her voice and a sway to her hips.

Harry followed her like a puppy to his dinner. As soon as the elevator doors had closed around them, he had her up against the far wall. His hands brushed over the hem of her dress.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" his fingers inched higher as her head came down to kiss his neck.

"Yeah." She gasped as he hiked her skirt a bit shorter. She strained up in her heels and kissed him hard just as the elevator doors opened. A cool female voice told them that they were on the third floor. Ginny reluctantly pulled out of his arms and led him down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked breathlessly as hurried after her.

"It's the head of the muggle relations department's old office. He got a bigger one so now this is just storage." She panted. She slowed in front of a door on their right, whirling and pressing him against it.

His head hit it hard, but he didn't notice or care as her finger reached up to loosen his tie and her lips grazed his ear. He felt her tongue on his neck and shivered just as there was a muffled crash from the room they were about to enter.

They both froze, straining to hear.

"Hurry, Arthur! I thought I heard something…"

"Relax, Molly-Wobbles, no one knows about this place, it was probably just the wind…"

Ginny's hand clapped over her mouth in horror as both her and Harry heard her mother, her no-nonsense, rule-making, biscuit-baking mother let out a soft and undeniably satisfied laugh.

Harry stood frozen, staring down at Ginny who was no longer attacking him, but now looked like she was about to vomit. Harry could empathize.

Wordlessly, they turned and crept down the hall back to the elevator. Once inside, Ginny stood as far away from him as possible and whispered, "We never talk about this again, right?"

Harry nodded violently, shaking his hair into his eyes. Ginny shuddered as the doors closed and tried to press herself further into the wall.


	4. Disobeying

It was taking every ounce of control he had not to go down there and punch that little git. But Ron thought he was hiding it quite well.

"I want to punch that little git." He muttered to Harry, who was looking oddly shell-shocked, and refusing to look at Ginny, who snorted.

"Do it. That man is insufferable, he needs a good punch or two. It would be the talk of the ministry for days! You may even get a promotion…" She trailed off and Harry finished his champagne.

"Gin, he's Head Auror. The only promotion he's got is being voted minister for magic."

"Even so," she argued, "Maybe him punching that little worm will spur the popular vote into action." Harry laughed.

"The elections aren't for another three years. I think you're overestimating the power of the people."

"I think you're underestimating how much people hate Thomas Marche."

"Did I hear my name?" all three of them swore under their breath. "Been talking about me, have you?" the entire room could practically hear the smirk in his voice. Ron whirled around, planting a smile on his face.

"Yes, actually. We were. We were just discussing promotions." He smoothly transferred Hermione out of Marche's hands and behind him. Handing Marche a glass of champagne, he continued.

"I hear your department is looking for a new undersecretary." Ron mock toasted marche, while allowing his eyes to roam around the room.

If possible, the smirk on Marche's face became even slimier and his eyes gleamed. "A new undersecretary, you say? Well, I certainly haven't heard…well, I can't lie that the water cooler gossip doesn't usually make its way to my ears first." He chuckled. "Why are they talking about law in your department, Weasley?"

"Well it's no secret that Kinglsey isn't too happy with all the falsified reports passing through. Apparently there is a very large side-fund with Williams' name on it, and being the undersecretary of law, it doesn't look too good from the outside when you begin to commit fraud. I'm told this is his last ministry function before the press release."

Marche's eyes very obviously flickered to the group of men on the balcony, obviously having a heated debate. In the middle of it was Dirsten Williams.

"Well, of course." Marche's gaze slid back to Ron's, "But then again I have always questioned his ethics, just couldn't say anything. He used to be the Minister's right hand man." He sighed and shook his head. "Just goes to show just how far some can fall. If you'll excuse me." And with that, Marche took off up the stairs, heading straight for the minister.

Hermione turned to Ron.

"I didn't know that about Williams. That's just awful. He's committing fraud?"

"No." said Harry and Ron in unison. Ginny was laughing and patting her brother on the back.

"Perfect!" she choked out through the laughter, "This night just took a sharp turn for the better! I think it's time to leave, that cannot be topped." She was still giggling as Harry led her to the bank of fire places.

"I don't understand." Hermione looked confused, a rare expression for her. Ron just chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll tell you at home, love. Let's go, I think Ginny's right, this can't get any better." He led her towards a fireplace, and just as they were stepping inside, the voices on the balcony began to rise.

Ron was still laughing as he stepped into the living room. Hermione followed him into the bedroom, still looking bewildered.

"What is going on?" she demanded. Ron began to loosen his tie.

"Williams is not committing fraud and he still has his job and is still Kingsley Shacklebolt's best friend. I told Marche that so he'd make a fool of himself." He turned around at the sound of Hermione's gasp.

"Ronald Weasley! Please tell me that you didn't, that you wouldn't do something like that! He probably said some very offensive things to those men. I'm sure he will be put on probation, or suspended, or fired, or…" She was smiling now, and Ron started waking towards her.

"Wouldn't the ministry be a better place without him?" He pulled her towards him and whispered in her ear. "You won't have to cover your arse every time he walks by, or have disgusting comments hurled at you everyday…" He nuzzled her neck.

"I won't have to listen to him go on and on about himself. He won't insult you…" she also trailed off, but Ron pulled his head up to finish her sentence.

"Because he won't be there." Hermione pretended to shiver.

"Oh, say it again."

"Because…" he kissed her, "he won't be there." He captured her mouth with his. They stood there for long moments, just kissing before Ron pulled back.

"Is this the part where I get to take your dress off?" Hermione smiled and turned around obligingly.

oOo

Hermione woke at seven and turned her head to look at Ron, he was wrapped around her, his forehead resting on her shoulder. She bent down to kiss his head, and slid out from his arms and the bed.

She pulled on her bathrobe and padded across the hall to the living room. On the coffee table was a neat stack of mail brought by Pig. She picked up a newspaper and a green envelope. She pulled out a card from the envelope written by Ginny:

_**Harry and I not going to Mom and Dad's today for lunch. Something came up. I'll tell you about it later if I can stop seeing it in my head.**_

Still puzzling over the note, Hermione flipped open the paper, two headlines caught her eye. The first read:

_**Ministry Official on official Ministry Probation. Scandalous comments infuriate Britain.**_

And the other… Hermione walked back into the bedroom with the paper.

She began shaking Ron awake as she slid back under the covers.

"Ron, wake up. Ron!" He mumbled something unintelligible, but opened his eyes. Hermione smiled.

"The cannons won last night! 435 to 10." Ron shot up.

"What?! That's not even possible. How…" Hermione shoved the paper under his nose. He began to smile while he read. Finally, he looked up at her.

"Well we need to celebrate." His grin turned impish, and Hermione began to smile.

"Don't you _dare_ Ronald Weasley!" But this time, Ron didn't obey her at all.


End file.
